Ryan Chiara, 2, of Garden City, waves his flag as...

Ryan Chiara, 2, of Garden City, waves his flag as the Nassau County Memorial Day celebration passes by in Eisenhower Park on Monday, May 25, 2020 in East Meadow. Credit: Howard Schnapp

Newsday is providing all readers with access to this breaking news blog on important developments about the coronavirus and our community.

What's happening today:

Monday updates

Watch Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone's briefing:

Cuomo: NY to provide death benefits for front-line workers' families

New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said Monday state and local governments will provide death benefits for "public heroes" who died from COVID-19 during the crisis.

Speaking at his daily news briefing from the USS Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum on Memorial Day, Cuomo added he is "calling on the federal government to provide dedicated funding for hazard pay for frontline workers." Cuomo said city employees and county employees will be eligible for the death benefits with local pension funds providing for those benefits.

The governor said 96 New Yorkers died from COVID-19 on Sunday, down from the 109 deaths reported for Saturday. — NEWSDAY STAFF

Watch Gov. Andrew Cuomo's daily briefing:

Sunday updates

Bellone: Crowd at Patchogue bar 'unacceptable'

Video showing people gathered at a Patchogue bar was “unacceptable” and “not smart,” Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone said Sunday.

Suffolk police responded to multiple 911 calls Friday night of noncompliance with the state “pause” order at the Dublin Deck Tiki Bar and Grill on River Avenue. A video posted on Reddit showed a crowd standing shoulder-to-shoulder, with none of the guests appearing to wear face coverings.

Representatives of the bar have apologized and said the establishment would adhere to stricter social distancing guidelines.
Bellone said he was pleased with the apology.

“They have come forward to say that…it was wrong and it will not happen again,” Bellone said.

Suffolk Police Commissioner Geraldine Hart said that by the time officers responded to the bar, about 85% of the patrons had cleared out. Police stayed until everyone left and then went back twice that night to ensure the bar was in compliance, she said.Police visited the bar on Saturday to talk with the owner and again ensure compliance, Hart said. – NEWSDAY STAFF

Watch Steve Bellone's press briefing

Cuomo: LIRR adding more train cars for social distancing; sports training camps and veterinarians can resume

With Long Island’s economy on track to start reopening this week, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said Sunday that the Long Island Rail Road is adding more train cars to allow people to social distance.

Cuomo also reminded riders that face coverings are mandatory on public transportation.

Cuomo has said that Long Island could begin “Phase One” of reopening as early as Wednesday, if the number of coronavirus deaths continue to decline and its contact tracing operations are in place.

“We have to get the number of deaths down and the number of tracers up,” Cuomo said Sunday.

Cuomo also said that New York professional sports leagues can start training camps on Sunday, and veterinarian practices throughout the state can reopen on Tuesday. – NEWSDAY STAFF

Watch Gov. Cuomo's press briefing

Saturday afternoon updates

Bellone: Suffolk on track to reopen Wednesday

Suffolk is on track to begin reopening its economy on Wednesday, County Executive Steve Bellone said Saturday at his daily coronavirus briefing.

Phase 1 in reopening "is desperately needed," Bellone said. "We have to get people back to work," but safely and making sure the vulnerable are protected.

He said Suffolk was in process of training 1,000 contact tracers.

Suffolk saw eight more deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 1,822, Bellone said. An additional 130 people tested positive for the virus for a total of 38,802 in the county.

The unofficial start in opening occurred Saturday, he said, "with the opening of the beaches" even though the weather wasn't ideal.

He noted that hundreds of people turned out Saturday at county cemeteries to place U.S. flags on the graves of veterans in honor of Memorial Day. — NEWSDAY STAFF

Curran: Nassau 'aggressively' ramping up contact tracing; calls for gardens and museums to reopen

County Executive Laura Curran said Saturday that Nassau is "aggressively" building up its contact tracing corps — one of two metrics Long Island must still meet before it can start reopening its economy.

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo had said earlier in the day that Long Island could begin to reopen as early as Wednesday, if its contract tracing operations were in place and the number of coronavirus deaths continued to decline.

Curran said the county has been using contact tracers since the beginning of the crisis and that the health department already has a team of about 50 people.

"Now we're just ramping up that army," she said.

Curran also said she would like to see outdoor gardens, like Old Westbury Gardens and indoor museums reopen. Capacity could be limited at museums and visitors could be required to wear face coverings, she said. — NEWSDAY STAFF

Watch Nassau County Executive Laura Curran's news conference:

Cuomo: Long Island economy could start reopening Wednesday

Long Island's economy could start reopening on Wednesday, if the number of coronavirus deaths continues to decrease and its contact tracing operations is brought up to speed, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said Saturday.

The mid-Hudson region has met the state's criteria for a decline in coronavirus deaths, Cuomo said. If it can train its contact tracers this weekend, Cuomo said the region can begin reopening on Tuesday.

Cuomo also announced that an additional 84 people had died Friday of COVID-19, the first time the number of daily deaths was under 100 since the coronavirus crisis ramped up. Of those deaths, 62 were in hospitals and 22 were in nursing homes. — NEWSDAY STAFF

Saturday morning updates

Watch Gov. Andrew Cuomo's news conference:

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